Method and apparatus for the production of fastener elements



Dec. 14, 1937.; B, RElTER 2,102,031

METHOD AND .\P}.RA'.|',Sv FOR. THE IVRODUCTIO 0F FASTENER ELEMENTS vFiled June 22, 1954 80 INPE/V700 y a, ha, Hthr ey, Jn?

4Patent-ed Dec. 14, 193;?

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 2,102,031

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOB. TH PRO- DUCTION 0F FASTENEB ELEMENTS BrunoReiter.' London, England, assigner to -lngeniuxnv Aktiengesellschaft,Chur, Switzerland y Application June 22, 1934, Serial No. '131,818 InGermany June 23, 1933 12 Claims.

and more particularly to a method and appa.-Y

ratus for the production of said elements from a metal strip, whichisadvanced in its longitudinal direction. l

The elements or teeth of sliding clasp fasteners must, as is known,befplaced in position on the fabric strips or tapes with spread prongsor limbs Vwhich are then pressed together. It has up to now been usualto stamp the elements vwith spread prongs. An element-with spread prongsis, however, wider `between the extreme edges of the spread prongs. thanat its front part.Y It therefore seemed that'a relatively considerableloss.

in material was absolutely unavoidable, if a plu- 'rality of elementswas stamped.` It has already lbeen suggested to stamp the elements withclosed prongs and to spread them subsequently before placing'them on thefabric-strips or tapes. The

inventor has now found that if the prongs are'` spread subsequently itis possible to produce the A elements without any waste. There arose,howbe overcome.

' with closed prongs or limbs out of a single metal Y iinished elements,the longitudinal edges-of which ever,` a particular diflculty which hadlikewise to which would correspond to the width of the singie elementwith closed prongs through the apparatus for the manufactureof theelements the advantage .gained by the saving of material would One otheobjects of -my invention istoupro- A vide a method and apparatus, whichpermit an economical production of fastener elements from a metal stripVbeing advanced inits longitudinal direction. v

Another object of my invention is to provide a method and apparatus,which permit the punching of several adjacent rows of-.elements stripand spreading the limbs of the elements apart at the end ofthe strip,whereby an interference of the limbs of adjacent elements with eachotheris avoided.

In order-to carry out my invention. into practice, advancea metal stripof a Width equal substantially to the sum of the widths of several beingin contact with each other along their entire length, slit the leadingend of the strip to form several branch strips each of which havingsubstantially the widthv of a finished element, displace the branchstrips to disengage their lateral edges from each other, preform theelements and their limbs -in each of said branch strips, spread thelimbs of the elements apart at the ends of the If one would pass a metalstrip apparatus is provided with a lstamp for` the pro- Theabovementioned objects and duction of indentations, the wedge of which isobtuse for the greater part, whereas the shorter part is more acute. Theobtuse part effects in- 10 denting and pushing aside of the material forrendering the punching of this part with the subsequent punch possible,whilst .the acute part preforms the ends of the limbs which later ongrip the tape-or fabric strip. A further row 15 of stamps producesthe'recesses and projections forming the interengaging parts, whichcharacterize the elements. A final row of stamps separates the nishedelements from the divisions so that the indentation of the followingpart can 20 be engaged by a .stamp projection which is constructed as amandrel at its front end andv which spreads the preformed limbs apart.The appalratus therefore consists of .several rows of stamps andasupport for guiding the Vseparate divisions 25 set apart. The rows ofstamps may naturally be combined with one another so thatone row ofstamps may also consist of fewer stamps. This is also true for theseries of stamps so that the .number of stamps.

advantages .as well as 'other objects and advantages will be 5 morefully disclosed in the following specification reference being had tothe accompanying draw- 35- ing `forming part of this specification inwhich: Fig. 1 is a .diagrammatical side view of the end of theapparatus, which forms the elements,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1showing the metal stripin i0` a top plan view,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view'tak-en on line V3--3 of Fig. 1illustrating the guiding of the 'branch strips in different levels, t

Fig. 4 is a top plan view `of a finished `element 45 with closedlimbsgripping a tape", the latter be- .ing shown in a sectional view, v-1 tus, and 55 Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 8-8of Fig. '7.

Referring to Figs. 1 to-6, I designates a metal strip, which is fed intothe apparatus by a suitable feeding device and is intermittentlyadvanced in the apparatus in its longitudinal direction in the directionof the arrow 40. The metal strip I has a width A (Fig. 2) equalsubstantially to the sum of the widths a (Fig. 5) of three finishedelements 4I, the longitudinal edges 42 of which being in contact witheach other along their entire length (see Fig. 2), or in other words,the width of the metal strip I is equal substantially to the sum of thewidths of three juxtaposed nished elements 4| the limbs 43 of whichbeing closed. The apparatus is provided with a guide 2 on which themetal strip I is advanced. At 28 the guide 2 branches into threechannels 3, 3', 3". The inner channel 3 is arranged at a level lowerthan the level of the outer channels 3 and 3", as shown in Fig. 3, andis connected with the guide 2 by means of an inclination 30. A punch 4arranged above the inclination 30 slits the strip I in three branchstrips 5, 5', 5" of a width a, a', a" equal substantially to the widthof a finished element and presses the inner branch strip 5 downwards tothe'inclination 30, if moved downwardly. A row of three stamps 8, 8', 8"(Figs. 1, 2 and 6) and counterstamps cooperating with them (only thecounterstamp 80 cooperating with the stamp 8 is shown in Figs. 1 and 6)is positioned above the channels 3, 3', 3" at a point, where the innerchannel 3 is again par allel to the outer channels although at a levelset apart from the level of the latter, for a` distance `at least equalto the thickness ofthe metal strip. -As best shown in Fig. 6illustrating the stamp 8 yand its counterstamp 80 as an example for allstamps and counter-stamps, each of the stamps 8, 8', 8" and theircounter-stamps are provided with V-shaped ends. The smaller parts 8a and80a of said ends have an acute angle, while the greater parts 8b and 80hof said ends are provided with an obtuse or almost obtuse angle. If, forexample, the stamp 8 reaches its lowest position, a small space sremains between the edges of the ends of the stamp 8 and thecounter-stamp 80. Therefore, the stamps 8, 8', 8" and theircounter-stamps produce indentations in the upper and lower faces of thebranch strips 5, 5', 5", whereby the depths of the indentationsaresomewhat less thanI half.of the thickness. of the strip, so that avery thin membrane remains between the upper and lower indentations. Theobtuse angled parts 8b and 80h of the stamp 8 and counter-stamp displacethe material of the branch strip 5 to some extent and facilitate a cleanpunching of the branch strip by the punch 9. The acute angled parts 8a,8b, however, produce a small indentation 44 preforming the ends of thelimbs 43 between the punch 8 and the stamp I0, as shown in Fig. 2. Theobtuse angled parts of the stamps 8', 8" and their' counter-stampscooperate likewise with each other to facilitate a clean punching of thebranch strips 5' and 5" by the punches 8' and 9" and to produce thesmall indentations 44' and 44" preforming the ends of the limbs betweenthe punches 9' and 8" and the stamps I0 and I0". The stamps I0, I0', I0"provided with depressions and their projecting counter-stamps |00, I00', |00" produce projections 20, 20', 20" and recesses 2|, 2|', 2|"respectively, which form the interlocking parts of theelements. Anotherrow of punches II, II', II" is provided with projections I2, I2', I2"which serve to remove the very thin membrane still existing between theends of the limbs 43 and to spread the latter apart at the ends of thebranch strips, if the punches or spreaders II, II', II" are moveddownwards. It is possible to spread the limbs apart, although the metalstrip has only the width of the sum of the Widths of three adjacentfinished elements, as the level of the inner branch strip 3 is set apartfrom the level of the outer branch strips 3', 3" for a 'distance atleast equal to the thickness of the metal strip, so that the lateraledges of the branch strips are disengaged from each other.'I'he-elements with opened limbs 43 are successively severed from thebranch strips by means of suitable separating means. In a preferredembodiment of the apparatus, the punches I I, II', I" sever the leadingelements, which are advanced below said punches, and spread almostsimultaneously the limbs 43 of the subsequent elements, now being at theends of the branch strips, apart by means of the projections I2, I2',

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The metal strip I isintermittently advanced step by step. During each standstill of thestrip, the punches and stamps are moved downwards, whereby the punch 4slits the strip I in branch strips .5, 5', 5" and presses the innerbranch strip 5 to the inclination 30, the stamps 8, 8', 8" and theircounter-stamps form the indentations, the punches 9, 9', 9" produce theapertures 22, 22', 22", the stamps I0, I0', I0" -and counter-stamps |00,|00', |00" make the projections and recesses forming the interlockingparts of the elements, and the punches II, II', II" sever the leadingelements from the branch strips and spread the limbs 43 of thesubsequent elements apart. The finished element 4I with opened limbs 43has the form as shown in Fig. 4, when it is delivered from theapparatus. The finished elements may be attached to a tape 45 by closingthe limbs 43, which grip the tape and attach the element to the latytel.

tained the nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is to beperformed, I declare 4ments and their limbs in each of said branchstrips, spreading the limbs of the elements apart at the ends of thebranch strips, and severing the elements successively from the branchstrips.

2. A method for the production of metal elelments for sliding claspfasteners, which consists in advancing a metal strip of a width equalsubstantially to the sum of the widths of several nfinished elements,the longitudinal edges of which are in contact with each other alo-gtheir entire 1ength,'slitting the leading end of the strip to formseveral branch strips each of which has substantially the width of afinished element,-

placing the branch strips in different levels set apart from each otherfor a distance at least equal to the. thickness of the strip, preformingthe elements and their limbs in each of said branch strips, spreadingthe limbs of the elements apart at the ends of thebranch strips and'severingthe elements successively from the branch strips.

3. A method for the production of metal elements for sliding claspfasteners, which consists in advancing a metal strip of a width equalsubstantially to the sum of the widths of several finished elements, thelongitudinal edges of which are in contact with each other along theirentire length, slitting `the leading end of the strip to form severalbranch strips each of which has substantially the width of a -finishedelement, spreading the branch strips apart from each other to provide adistance between their lateral edges, preforming the elements and theirlimbs in each of said branch strips, spreading the limbs of the elementsapart at the ends of the branch strips, i

and severing the elements successively from the branch strips.

4. A method for the production of metal elements for sliding claspfasteners, which consists in advancing a metal strip of a width equalsubstantially to the sum of the widths of several are in contact witheach other along their entire i length, 4slitting the leading end of thestrip to form severallbranch strips each of which has substantially thewidth of a'. finished element, relatively displacing the branch stripsto disengage their lateral edges from each other, providing indentationsin the branch strips at spaced intervals, punching the indented materialto formy the limbs of the elements, producing recesses and projectionson the branch strips to form the interlocking parts of the elements,spreading the limbs of the elements apart at the ends of the vbranchstrips, and severing the elements successively from the branch strips.

5. A method for the production of metal elements for sliding claspfasteners. which consists in advancing a metal strip of a width equalsubstantially to the sum of the widths of several finished elements, thelongitudinal edges of which are in contact with each other along theirentire length, slitting the leading end of the strip to form severalbranch strips each of which has substantially the width of a finishedelement, relatively displacing the branch strips to disengage theirlateral edges from eachother, providing indentations in the upper andlower faces of the branch strips at spaced intervals, punching theindented material to form the limbs of the elements, producing recessesand projections on the vbranch -strips to form the interlocking parts ofthe elements, spreading the limbs of the elements apart at the ends ofthe branch strips, and severing the elements successivelyy from thebranch strips.

6. A method for the production of metal elements for sliding claspfasteners, which consists i in advancing a metal strip of a widthequaljsubstantially to the sum of the widths of several finishedelements, the longitudinal edges of which are in contact with each otheralong their entire length-slitting the leading end of the strip to formseveral branch strips each of which has substantially the width of anished element, relaindentations in the branch strips at spaced inter:vals, partially punching the indented material to form apertures betweenthe limbs of the elements, producing recesses and projections on thebranch strips to form the interlockingvparts of the elements, removinglthe remainder of the material between the ends of the limbs andspreading the latter apart at the ends of the branch strips, andsevering the elements 'successively from the branch strips.

, '7. In an apparatus for the production of metal elements for slidingclasp fasteners, the combination of means for intermittently advancing ametal strip, means for slitting the leading' end of the strip intoseveral branch strips, means for 8. In an apparatus for the productionof metal elements for sliding clasp fasteners, the combina.-k

tlon of means for intermittently advancing a metal strip, means forslitting the leading end of the strip into several branch strips, meansfor relatively displacing the branch strips in different levels,lguiding means adapted to lead the branch strips in said differentlevels, means adapted to preform the elements and their limbs in each ofsaid branch strips, spreaders adapted vto open the limbs of the elementsat the ends of the branch strips, and means adapted to Sever theelements successively from thebranch strips.

9. In an apparatus for the production of metal elements for slidingclasp fasteners, the combination of means lfor intermittentlyy advancinga metal strip, means for slitting the leading end of the strip intoseveral branch strips, means for spreading the branch strips apart fromeach other, guiding means adapted to lead said branch strips spreadapart from each other, means adapted to preform the elements and theirlimbs in each of said branch strips, spreaders adapted to open the limbsof the elements at the ends of the branch strips, and means adapted tosever the elements successively from the branch strips.

10. In an apparatus for the production of metal elements for slidingclasp fasteners, the combination of means for intermittently advancing astrips, and means adapted to sever the elements successively from thebranch strips.

11. In an apparatus for the production of metal elements for slidingclasp fasteners, the combination of means for intermittently. advancinga metal strip, means for slitting the leading end of the strip intosever'al branch strips, means for displacing the branch strips anddisengaging their lateral edges from each other, stamps provided 55metal strip, means for slitting theV leading end v with V-shaped endsfor producing indentations in the branch strips, said ends having asmaller part with an acute angle and a greater part with an angle ofgreater degree than the angle of the smaller part, punches for removingthe material indented by the greater parts of said ends to formapertures between the limbs of the elements, stamps and counter-stampsfor producing rev cesses and projections on the branch strips to formthe interlocking parts of the elements, spreaders adapted to remove theremainder of the material between the limbs and to open the latter atthe ends of the branch strips, and means adapted to sever the elementssuccessively from the branch strips.

12. In an apparatus for the production of metal elements for slidingclasp fasteners, the combination of means for intermittently advancing ame'tal strip, means for slitting the leading end of the strip intoseveral branch strips, means for displacing the branch strips anddisengaging their lateral edges from each other, stamps provided withV-shaped ends for producing indentations in the branch strips, said endshaving a smaller part with an acute angle' and a greater part with anangle of greater degree than the angle of the smaller part,counter-stamps provided with V- shaped ends having angles correspondingto said angles of the stamps, said stamps and counter stamps producingthe indentations in the upper and lower faces of the branch strips atspaced intervalsv approximately to the middle of the branch strips,punches for removing the material indented by the greater parts of saidends to form apertures between the limbs of the elements, stamps andcounter-stamps for producing recesses and projections on the branchstrips to form the interlocking parts of the elements, spreaders adaptedto remove the remainder of the material between the limbs and to openthe latter at the ends of the branch strips, and means adapted to severthe elements successively from the branch strips. i

BRUNO REITER.

